Background

The Summer of 2022 has been a bit hard on the business front for the city of Chicago, Illinois.

Here are some of the companies that have said, “Kaput, we are out!“.

 

Businesses Relocating Head-Quarters

 

Story Line

Boeing

McDonnell Douglas Merger – 1997

1. The Chicago headquarters  is a 36-floor $200 million riverfront skyscraper
2. Boeing moved its headquarters to Chicago, Illinois in 2001, leaving its Seattle home after 85 years
3. The move occurred after its 1997 merger with St. Louis, Missouri based rival McDonnell Douglas
4. The decision to leave Seattle angered rank-and-file mechanics and engineers
5. Boeing was seeking a post-merger headquarters in a neutral location separate from those existing divisional power centers
6. The city of Chicago, Cook County, and the state of Illinois awarded Boeing more than $60 million in tax and other incentives over 20 years to relocate
7. Those credits are now expiring
8. The move out of Chicago is partly seen as a cost cutting move
   • Boeing is also shedding real estate holding ins Seattle, Washington; home to its commercial airplane headquarters

Arlington County, Virginia – HQ Move – 2022

Dave Calhoun ( Boeing President and Chief Executive Officer )

1. The  Arlington Virginia Region makes strategic sense for our global headquarters given its proximity to our customers and stakeholders, and its access to world-class engineering and technical talent
2. Develop research and technology hub

 

Caterpillar, Inc.

Texas – HQ Move – 2022

Jim Umpleby ( Caterpillar, Inc. CEO )

1. The company had been based in Peoria, Illinois, for over 90 years before announcing a move to Deerfield, Illinois in 2017
2. At the time, it touted Deerfield as meeting its goal of being more accessible to its global customers, dealers and employees.
3. Now, five years later, CEO Jim Umpleby, has this to say
   • “We believe it’s in the best strategic interest of the company to make this move

 

Citadel

Miami, Florida – HQ Move – 2022

Ken Griffin ( Citadel, Founder )

Personal Terms

1. Citadel, the $51 billion hedge fund founded by billionaire investor Ken Griffin, is moving its global headquarters to Miami from Chicago, becoming the latest investment firm to shift offices to Florida in the wake of the pandemic.
2. Griffin is the wealthiest resident in Illinois with an estimated net worth of $25 billion. The decision to relocate the hedge fund and Citadel Securities, the electronic trading firm, was motivated by Florida’s business-friendly climate and tax advantages, and concerns about rising crime rates in Chicago, people familiar with his thinking said.
3. “I am excited to have recently moved to Miami with my family and look forward to rapidly expanding Citadel in a city so rich in diversity and abounding with energy,” Griffin wrote to employees announcing the planned move in a note seen by Reuters. “Miami is a vibrant, growing metropolis that embodies the American Dream.”
4. The firm follows in the footsteps of prominent hedge fund managers Carl Icahn and Paul Singer whose firms moved to Florida from New York as employees longed for better weather and access to outdoor activities, a huge draw during the pandemic. Florida also does not collect state income tax.
5. And it will likely put a dent in philanthropic giving after Griffin, who was born in Florida, donated more than $600 million to local educational, cultural, medical and civic organizations.

Crime

1. Citadel executives have expressed concerns about crime in Chicago, noting a Citadel employee was stabbed a block from the office while walking to work
2. Reports that someone tried to carjack Griffin’s vehicle.

Community Activism

1. Community activism such as protests that has occurred outside the Chicago headquarters is also cited as an auxiliary pretext

Covid

1. At the start of the pandemic, Citadel established a beachhead at the Four Seasons Palm Beach hotel to ensure fluid trading as COVID-19 locked down many businesses

 

Referenced Work

Boeing

1. CNBC
   • Boeing to move headquarters from Chicago to Virginia
     Published:- 2022-May-5th
     Link
2. Wikipedia
   • Corporate
     Link

Citadel

1. New York Post
   • Ken Griffin’s Citadel to move headquarters, dealing blow to Chicago
     Published:- 2022-June-23rd
     Link